Your help is on the way
The Ministry of God's Holy Spirit
Scripture: John 14:16-18King James Version (KJV)
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
I. Introduction: Have you ever wished you had a 9-1-1 line to heaven? From time to time, we all face critical or desperate situations in which we require supernatural help from our almighty God.
II. Our Helper
A. Who is the Holy Spirit?
- He is our Helper (John 14:16).
- The Holy Spirit is a Person, not an "it" (John 14:16, 26).
- He is just like Jesus. In John 14:16, the Greek word for "another" is allon, which means "another just like."
- He indwells every believer forever, sealing us for God.
- He convicts us of sin and brings us joy and peace.
- He guides us through trials and difficulties (John 14:26, 15:26-27).
- He's the One who is always with us. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 9:24-28, 10:12).
- He lives the life of Christ through us.
B. What kind of person is the Holy Spirit?
- Practical: He walks alongside us in any circumstance. In John 14:6, the word "helper" is parakletos. Para means "alongside" and kletos means "to be called."
- Personal: Since He walks alongside every believer, He knows all about you and me.
- Available: He's ready to listen 24 hours a day, and we can sense His care when our hearts are clean.
- Adequate: He's omnipotent. He can handle every challenge we face. He holds the future.
- Dependable: He's never late or worried about His capabilities. Others may desert us, but He's with us no matter how bad things get.
- Wise: He expects us to do our part and be responsible.
C. What are some areas in which the Holy Spirit helps us?
- When we don't know what to pray, He "intercedes with groanings too deep for words" (Rom. 8:26).
- He helps us interpret the Word of God for our lives.
- He convicts us of sin and reminds us that we are accountable to God (John 16:8).
- He gives us supernatural energy when we are weak.
- He helps us know how to care for our bodies.
- When we doubt, He reminds us of scriptural truth and the promises of God.
- He encourages us in times of sorrow.
- He gives us spiritual gifts, equipping us to serve.
- He speaks through us, enabling us to impact others.
III. Closing: If spiritual "fruit"-which includes love, joy, peace, etc. (Gal. 5:22-23)-isn't evident in your life, then you aren't surrendered to the Holy Spirit. The degree to which you yield your life to Him is the degree to which your life will be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. If you will let Him, the Helper will live the life of Christ through you.
